Smaaz’s Blog

Yahoo! Announces Global Availability of Two New E-mail Domains

Yahoo! today announced the global availability of two new e-mail domains that will give users the chance to register for the e-mail address or Yahoo! ID they have always wanted. People can finally say goodbye to CutiePie4Ever80 or mattclark1977@yahoo.com and get a new Yahoo! e-mail address at ymail.com and rocketmail.com.

Yahoo! Mail is the number one Web mail service in the world with more than 260 million users worldwide(1). As a result of its global popularity, many desirable e-mail addresses have already been taken for the yahoo.com domain, as well as for localized versions of the namespace in countries around the world. With the two new e-mail domain choices, Yahoo! will make millions of new e-mail addresses available to the online community.

Yahoo! recently commissioned a survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) to determine what online adults look for when choosing an e-mail address and found some noteworthy results:

– The majority of online adults (59 percent) consider the most important attribute of an e-mail address to be that it is easy to remember.

– When asked if they could choose any e-mail address for personal use, seven in ten online adults (70 percent) would opt to have some portion of their name included - 31 percent would want their last name included, 27 percent would choose their first name, while 28 percent would prefer to have their nickname as part of their e-mail address.

– Of online adults who indicated that they are not currently using their first choice e-mail address, over half (54 percent) agree that they want their e-mail address to reflect who they are, and about half (48 percent) would be at least somewhat likely to change addresses should their preferred choice become available.

“We recognize that people want an e-mail address that reflects who they are, whether they are signing up for an e-mail address for the first time, or simply updating their e-mail pseudonym to reflect the stage they are at in life,” said John Kremer, vice president, Yahoo! Mail. “We are thrilled to be able to offer new Yahoo! e-mail domain choices to Internet users, along with the same great Web mail experience that hundreds of millions of people have already come to expect.”

E-mail addresses at the new domains will have the same great Yahoo! Mail features as addresses at the yahoo.com domain, including:

– Unlimited storage - Yahoo! Mail provides all users with free unlimited e-mail storage(2)

– Integrated Instant Messaging and Text Messaging - Users can connect in real-time to their contacts with Yahoo! Messenger or Windows Live(R) Messenger and send text messages to friends on the go, right from their Yahoo! Mail inbox

– Protection from spam and viruses - All of the same great protection that is built into Yahoo! Mail will apply to these new domains. Yahoo! uses advanced technologies and data from numerous sources to dramatically reduce the delivery of spam and phishing e-mails

– Country-specific e-mail account - When signing up for an e-mail account, users have the option of choosing localized country versions from each of the Yahoo! domains: yahoo.com, ymail.com and rocketmail.com

As always, a Yahoo! ID will work for everything across the Yahoo! Network, from checking e-mail to checking out Messenger, Flickr, Groups, Sports, Finance and more.

In many markets, Yahoo! will also help users transfer their e-mail and contacts to their new address and notify friends of their new e-mail address.

In addition, Yahoo! has reserved a number of desirable e-mail addresses - all related to charitable organizations - using the new domains and will put these e-mail addresses up for charity auction beginning on Thursday, June 19, 2008. Yahoo! is working with auction partners eBay Giving Works and Auction Cause. The proceeds from the auction will benefit the following organizations: The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Ocean Conservancy, Point Foundation, Right To Play and World Wildlife Fund. To participate in the online auction, please visit http://www.ebay.com/ymail.

Users can learn more about and register for a new e-mail at ymail.com and rocketmail.com at http://mail.yahoo.com.

1 comment June 22nd, 2008

Google Announces Non-Exclusive Advertising Services Agreement with Yahoo! in U.S. and Canada

Google today announced that it has reached an agreement that gives Yahoo! the ability to use Google’s search and contextual advertising technology through its AdSense™ for Search and AdSense for Content advertising programs. Under the agreement, Yahoo! has the option to display Google ads alongside its own natural search results in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, Yahoo! can serve contextually targeted ads on its U.S. and Canadian web properties as well as on its current publisher partner sites. Yahoo will continue to operate its own search engine, web properties and advertising services.

In addition, Yahoo! and Google agreed to enable interoperability between their respective instant messaging services bringing easier and broader communication to users.
“This commercial agreement provides Yahoo! with the opportunity to deliver more relevant ads to users and provide advertisers and publishers with better advertising technology to help them succeed in their own businesses,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google. “This agreement will preserve the competitive and dynamic online advertising space.”

As a result of the agreement, Yahoo! will be able to complement its own advertising program with Google’s advertising technology. As a result, advertisers will be able to better reach consumers, and Yahoo! and its current publisher partners can generate more revenue. Yahoo can use Google’s advertising technology on as many or as few of its search results and content pages as it chooses.

This non-exclusive agreement allows Yahoo! to enter into similar agreements with other advertising providers. In addition, Yahoo! will maintain relationships with its own advertising customers and will continue to rely exclusively on its own advertising program outside of the U.S. and Canada. The agreement has a term of up to ten years: a 4-year initial term and two 3-year renewals at Yahoo!’s option. Financial terms between the two companies were not disclosed.

Although Google and Yahoo are not required to receive regulatory approval of the arrangement before implementing it, the companies have voluntarily agreed to delay implementation for up to three and a half months to give the U.S. Department of Justice time to review the arrangement.

Add comment June 14th, 2008

Yahoo! and Acresso Announce Multi-Year Yahoo! Toolbar and InstallShield Distribution Agreement

Yahoo! and Acresso Software, formerly a division of Macrovision, today announced a multi-year global agreement to offer the Yahoo! Toolbar to over 71,000 organizations using Acresso’s InstallShield(R) technology. The partnership makes it easy for software producers to optionally bundle the Yahoo! Toolbar into a software installation as a value-add.

InstallShield, deployed on more than 500 million PCs worldwide, is used by software producers of all sizes and allows them to author high-quality installations for the PC. With this new offering, Acresso Software formally announces a value-added services strategy to extend the benefits of InstallShield. As software companies face slower growth, the strategy focuses on options for them to generate additional revenue and provide new capabilities for their customers.

Yahoo! Toolbar, which was the Web’s first downloadable toolbar and is currently available in more than 24 markets, helps users simplify their web routines on and off Yahoo!.

“InstallShield is the de facto standard for authoring installs - from the top 100 software producers in the world to the individual developer. By simplifying the addition of Yahoo! Toolbar into their installs, software producers of any size can bring Yahoo!’s powerful search functionality to their end-users while opening up brand new revenue opportunities,” said Mark Bishof, CEO, Acresso Software.

“Our goal is to offer users access to the most comprehensive and relevant content on the Web. With InstallShield being deployed on more than 500 million PCs worldwide, this partnership gives us the ability to extend our reach with Yahoo! Toolbar and become the starting point for InstallShield’s global community,” said Vish Makhijani, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Yahoo! Search.

To learn more about this new value-added service for InstallShield, please visit www.acresso.com/installshield.

Add comment June 9th, 2008